Gressard & Co.

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Gressard & Co. letterhead (1931)

The Gressard und Companie (Gressard & Co.) was a spinning , weaving , dyeing and finishing in Hilden for foil silk webs and fabrics ; printed and smooth silk foulards , cloths and fabrics , taffeta , satin , twill to derive pocket , neck and head towels to manufacture. Founded in 1857, dissolved in 1956.

Company formation and looms

On April 27, 1857, the colourist Hermann Gressard (* September 6, 1821), who was also employed as a factory manager, was also founded by his brother, the factory draftsman Georg Friedrich Gressard († April 12, 1864), who was responsible for fabric production, and Heinrich, the commissioner for action August Krall (born June 9, 1823 in Elberfeld ; † August 23, 1905 in Hilden) as commercial director, all three of whom had lived in Elberfeld until then, and as the fourth member of the limited partner, businessman and money lender, the Barmen- based businessman Johann Peter Dahl das Company enterprise "factory business for the production of printed and woven cloths and fabrics" under the name of Seidenweberei und Druckerei Gressard & Co. (Gressard & Co.). On the same day they acquired the Kritzenhaus premises (today the town hall on Fritz-Gressard-Platz in Hilden) from the heirs of the factory owner Heinrich Hermann Wülffing, who died in Hilden in 1854, on the formerly the “Wülffing und Keller Färberei und Kattundruckerei ” (1832–1847) factory Hydropower had been operated. In 1857 they extended to the adjacent site, on which the Belgian entrepreneur Henri Agneessens had run a linen thread factory since 1847, which was continued from 1852 by the brothers Ferdinand and Eduard Schmahl and was closed on May 1, 1853. To the south of Gressard & Co. was the Kampf & Spindler company premises .

Fritz Gressard (1839-1923)

The limited partner Dahl undertook to inject the business up to the amount of 50,000 thalers Prussian Courant as required, which earned interest at 5 percent per year. Johann Peter Dahl stayed in Barmen, the other partners moved to Hilden. When Johann Peter Dahl left the company through death in 1860, August Helfferich from Ulm joined the company as a financier and partner. After the death of Georg Friedrich Gressard in 1864, his sons Friedrich ( Fritz (born May 26, 1839 in Elberfeld; † February 15, 1923 in Hilden)), Ernst and Otto were taken into the company with their father's capital. In 1857 Hilden had around 4,500 inhabitants.

The company quickly developed into the largest industrial company in Hilde at the time and attracted a large number of workers, especially silk printers and engravers, who mainly settled in the vicinity of the plant. In 1858 it employed 172 workers, 96 of whom were do-it-yourselfers on handlooms . It had a steam engine , a finishing machine , a copper printing machine, three winding machines, and 33 printing tables. Two years later, in 1860, there were 371 workers, 210 home weavers and the rest wage workers. There was a steam engine, a finishing machine, four copperplate printing machines, a press and 71 printing tables. The printing shop was located in the factory. The silk raw material came from China, Japan, Italy, France and Switzerland and was obtained from warehouses in Elberfeld, Krefeld and England. The products - silk printed cloths and clothing fabrics - were exported to various countries in Europe and South America. The silk weaving and printing works Gressard u. Comp. was for a long time the most important factory company in Hilden.

Plant of the company Gressard u. Co., watercolor around 1880

Mechanical weaving and foulard printing

The first major change took place in 1860. The owners set up mechanical looms and converted to dyeing on padding machines . The introduction of the foulard weaving mill led to the concentration of the workers in a weaving room.

At the same time as the application for a town census was submitted in 1861, Mayor Albert Koennecke asked Mettmann about the gas production there. Gas lamps had already been introduced in Mettmann. But the efforts of the city did not go fast enough for the textile company Gressard & Co. They built their own gas station on their site in 1861 (today the town hall is located there). (The "Hildener Gasanstalt W. Kampf u. Cie" was only founded three years later in 1864). The boilers of the gas preparation plant from Gressard & Co. were located in the rear of the factory premises on the Itter. The pipeline network was 414 m long and had 750 connections. In 1869 it produced around 25,485 m 3 of gas per year. The private gas company near Gressard later also supplied 3 gas lanterns to the umbrella fittings factory W. Bauermann & Sons in Hofstrasse. In November 1892, Gressard & Cie. the application to the city to purchase gas for their weaving mill from the city gas works.

Trade fairs and exhibitions

The assortment of floret silk webs and fabrics, printed and smooth silk scarves, scarves and fabrics, taffeta, atlas, twill; Handkerchiefs, neck scarves and headscarves were exhibited at various trade fairs.

Housing and social issues

The flourishing industry attracted many workers, printers and mold engravers who moved to Hilden. From 1840 to 1850, 23 new houses were built and between 1850 and 1860 the pace of construction was increased to 110 houses. Reyscher & Bergmann (later the Society for Cotton Industry ) started building company apartments before 1882 with the construction of semi-detached houses at Hochdahler Strasse 90/92 and 100/102. Between 1898 and 1900, Gressard & Co. built four semi-detached houses on Karnaper Feld and on Schützenstrasse. Seven double houses from the Kampf & Spindler company were located on Schützenstrasse and Humboldtstrasse. Hildener Aktienbaugesellschaft was founded on April 15, 1897 to merge construction activities.

The partner August Krall set up a consumer association in 1863 which allowed members to purchase goods below the market price.

In addition to a local health insurance fund, there were seven company health insurance funds in Hilden in 1903 for the companies Gressard & Co. (textile company), Heimendahl & Keller (cutlery factory), Kampf & Spindler (textile company), Kirberg & Hüls (steam engines), JH Stürmer (leather tannery), society for cotton Industry (textile companies) as well as Balcke, Tellering & Co. (tube rolling mill)

Labor movement and wage strike

In August and September 1869, a three-week long wage strike by printers and engravers at Gressard & Co. brought much unrest to Hilden. It was with him that social differences collided for the first time in Hilden, and this resulted in temporary layoffs. The company made resignation from the “General Workers' Association” a condition for the re-employment of the striking workers.

Due to the Great Depression (1873-1896) , almost all printers and engravers were dismissed in 1882, which was due to the dwindling demand for printed materials. The workers were no longer busy and therefore earned too little.

Extension, standard fabrics and external dyeing works at Schlieper & Laag

In connection with the recession, the production of foulards was stopped in 1882. They were replaced by standard fabrics, and an in-house dye works was initially set up for the manufacture of these, also in 1882.

The in-house dye works had to give way to a new, large weaving room due to the subsequent boom from 1895. Therefore, in 1897, the company acquired four acres of land for a dye works outside of its factory premises on Hofstrasse. This building was built in the following years. It later became an independent company under the name “Hildener Stückfärberei”, which later became an independent company, Schlieper & Laag . In 1897 there was full employment for the 600 workers at Gressard & Co. In Hilden, Gressard worked a lot of overtime to keep up with the orders. By 1895, the population of Hildens had risen to 9,700.

Loan from Friedrich Wilhelm Herminghaus and change of ownership

Fritz-Gressard-Platz Villa Herminghaus (1968)

In connection with the conversions and the associated construction work, the company's management felt compelled to raise more capital. Lender was the businessman and councilor Friedrich Wilhelm Herminghaus (born April 8, 1826 in Wülfrath ; † June 28, 1907 in Wülfrath). His sons Friedrich Wilhelm Herminghaus (born March 16, 1856 in Wülfrath; † July 30, 1929 in Hilden) and Carl Hermann Herminghaus (born January 12, 1859 in Wülfrath; † July 25, 1917 in Lüttringhausen ) became partners in Gressard & Co As a result, the founding group was pushed more and more out of the company. In 1885 Friedrich Wilhelm Herminghaus finally acquired the remaining company shares and passed the company on to his sons Wilhelm and Carl, who continued to run it as factory owners without any further involvement of the former founders and in 1887 also to the factory owners' villa " Haus Hagdorn " at today's Fritz-Gressard-Platz moved in. By December 31, 1891, Friedrich Wilhelm Herminghaus granted his sons' company a loan of 142,000 marks.

The silk weaving mill Gressard & Comp. in Gerresheim

In 1896 a branch of the Hilden silk weaving mill "Gressard & Co." was built in Gerresheim (incorporated in Düsseldorf in 1909) at the instigation of the management of the local glassworks . For this purpose, the owners of the Hilden factory at that time, Wilhelm and Carl Herminghaus, acquired from the “Aktiengesellschaft der Gerresheimer Glashüttenwerke vorm” on March 31, 1896 . Ferd. Heye “ a plot of land on today's Dreifaltigkeitsstraße for a price of 60,000 marks.

Undoubtedly, this expansion to Gerresheim also took place because the company's need for labor in Hilden could no longer be met.

The initiative of the glassworks management is explained by the concern for the social needs of the glassworks workers. Above all, jobs should be created for their women and thus the opportunity to earn additional money to support their families. At times, up to 200 young girls and women were employed on what was then Webereistraße. They were members of the Gerresheimer glass worker families. However, the industrialists also had a not insignificant economic advantage: female labor was cheaper because women received lower wages than men.

In 1908 the Hilden main factory of the silk weaving mill Gressard & Co. ran into financial difficulties and had to sell part of the Gerresheimer property to the Düsseldorf factory owner Bernhard Weddigen. The buildings of the Gerresheimer branch were used from 1930 by the newly founded "Rhena-Tapetenfabrik Carl Nobbe KG".

Fire and descent

A serious setback for the company in Hilden was the great fire in the main factory, which occurred on February 15, 1901 in extremely cold weather and in which it was only with great difficulty that the large shed room with its 400 mechanical looms was saved. After that catastrophe, the company did not fully reach its previous high, on the contrary, the first signs of a gradual decline were on the horizon. The company, now an open trading company, silk factory “Gressard u. Cie. ”Was in debt. Especially when she entered into a business relationship with the Schaafhausen Bank Association in Düsseldorf on February 1, 1907, she had to provide security for all land, buildings and machines up to a value of 250,000 marks.

On March 4, 1908, Wilhelm and Carl Herminghaus sold land and buildings to the value of 350,000 marks to their brother-in-law Bernhard Weddigen, partner in the Hofwagenfabrik Scheurer & Cie., Düsseldorf. At the same time, the “Seidenfabrik Gressard u. Cie ". into a GmbH with a share capital of at least 2½ million marks. Despite attempts at renovation, the descent could no longer be stopped. The share capital sank ever faster and in 1959 was finally reduced by 60% from 462,000 DM to 184,000 DM. The number of workers fell from 333 in 1913 to 274 in 1931.

In 1956 the mechanical silk weaving mill Gressard u. Comp. after a long period of wasting time their production in Hilden finally ceased. In 1955, 31,897 inhabitants were counted in Hilden.

In 1945 the pharmaceutical company "Lindopharm" opened the drug trade in Hilden on the Gressard site.

Stadtpark - formerly Gressard & Co and Spindler Villa, aerial photo before 1968

Purchase by the city of Hilden and Steinhäuser-Centrum

The factory premises with an area of ​​around 13,000 square meters were sold in 1962 to the city of Hilden, which had all of the former factory buildings demolished on September 15, 1968. In July 1971 the last part of the building was blown up. The stone houses center has stood where brick halls and outbuildings used to dominate the scene since 1973.

literature

  • Wolfgang Wennig: History of the Hilden industry, from the beginnings of commercial activity up to 1900 , Hilden City Archives, 1974, page 48 and pages 145-148.
  • Articles of association of the company Gressard & Co. of April 27, 1857 , Notary Paniel No. 5783 in the Hilden City Archives, Works Archive (Certificate Gr.7), quoted in Wolfgang Wennig - History of Hilden Industry, Niederbergische Posts 30 (red cover), pages 195– ff.

Web links

Commons : Gressard & Co.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Rolf Jessewitsch (Red.), Ulrike Unger, Richard Odendahl: The history of the textile industry in Hilden. , Museum Hefte Volume 2, Hilden 1990.
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Wennig: Geschichte der Hildener Industrie , Hilden 1974, p. 48 ff.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Wolfgang Wennig: Geschichte der Hildener Industrie , Hilden 1974, pp. 145 ff.
  4. ↑ a b Hilden Statistical Yearbook 2013.
  5. ^ Gerd Müller: Stadtwerke Hilden, foundation, structure and history , Bergisch Gladbach, self-published, 1984.
  6. ↑ 100 years of gas in Hilden 1864 - 1964 , works committee, department head and works management of Stadtwerke Hilden, 1964.
  7. ↑ R. v. Decker: Official report on the London Industrial and Art Exhibition in 1862. The Royal Upper Court Printer Publishing House, 1863, accessed December 22, 2017 .
  8. ^ The International Exhibition of 1862 in England –London. Cambridge University Press, April 17, 2014, accessed December 22, 2017 .
  9. ^ Official General Catalog: World Exhibition 1873 in Vienna. Verlag der General-Direction ,, 1873, accessed on December 22, 2017 .
  10. ↑ R. v. Decker: Official catalog of the exhibition of the German Empire. Publishing house of the Royal Secret Oberhofbuchdrucker, 1873, accessed on December 22, 2017 .
  11. ↑ R. v. Decker: Official catalog: World Exhibition in Philadelphia 1876. German department. Publishing house of the Royal Secret Oberhofbuchdruckerei ,, 1873, accessed on December 22, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Wolfgang Wennig: Geschichte der Hildener Industrie , Hilden 1974, p. 108 ff.
  13. ↑ Wolfgang Antweiler and Bernd Morgner: Metallverarbeitung in Hilden , Hildener Museumhefte Volume 4, Hilden 1992.
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Wennig: Hilden yesterday and today , the city archives Hilden 1977th
  15. ↑ Kerstin Griese, Peter Zwilling: Reader on the history of social democracy in the Mettmann district. BoD - Books on Demand, 2012, accessed December 22, 2017 .
  16. ^ Friedrich Zunkel: The Rhenish-Westphalian entrepreneur 1834 - 1879. Axel Springer SE , March 9, 2013, accessed on December 22, 2017 .
  17. ↑ a b c d Peter Stegt: Gressard silk weaving mill . Rheinische Industriekultur, 2017, accessed on December 22, 2017 .
  18. ^ H. Peter Hennen: The textile industry is a woman's business. Wander highlight, December 24, 2017, accessed on January 22, 2018 .
  19. ^ Company health insurance company Gressard & Co. GmbH, certificate of the number of employees annually from 1913 to 1931, Hilden City Archives, March 31, 1931
  20. ↑ The end of a silk factory. Rheinische Post , June 27, 2011, accessed on December 22, 2017 .